As for his top pick, by veteran metal act Anathema, Wagner says: “I didn’t think they still had this kind of album in them, but they do.”

“When I’m nestled in the dark of my music room,” he explains, “inescapably tuned into a particular album, that’s exactly what I feel like I’m doing: comprehending infinity. Or getting close. It doesn’t happen often, but the albums listed here helped me almost get there… The Anathema actually landed me right on Planet Infinity a few times.”

In the meantime, Wagner’s book Mean Deviation earned year-end kudos of its own from AOL’s Noisecreep and Metal-Rules.com, and has been hailed by members of Cynic, Fates Warning, Dream Theater, Voivod, Porcupine Tree, and others.